Hot Metal Bridge
Mon Con: motor vehicles, 2 lanes
Hot Metal: converted for pedestrian and bicycles
![Map](https://maps.wikimedia.org/img/osm-intl,10,40.428268,-79.960776,250x200.png?lang=en&domain=en.wikipedia.org&title=Hot_Metal_Bridge&revid=1241503258&groups=_8d3aa3ab919e664a9aa824a4551833f8b3d91e52)
The Hot Metal Bridge is a truss bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that crosses the Monongahela River. The bridge consists of two parallel spans on a single set of piers: the former Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge, built in 1887, on the upstream side and the former Hot Metal Bridge, built in 1900, on the downstream side. The Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge carried conventional railroad traffic, while the Hot Metal Bridge connected parts of the J&L Steel mill, carrying crucibles of molten iron from the blast furnaces in ladle transfer cars to the open hearth furnaces on the opposite bank to be converted to steel. During World War II 15% of America's steel making capacity crossed over the Hot Metal Bridge, up to 180 tons per hour.[1] The upstream span was converted to road use after a $14.6 million restoration, and opened by Mayor Tom Murphy with a ceremony honoring former steel workers on June 23, 2000.[2] The bridge connects 2nd Avenue at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland with Hot Metal Street (South 29th Street) in the South Side. The downstream span reopened for pedestrian and bicycle use in late 2007 after two years of work. The Great Allegheny Passage hiker/biker trail passes over this bridge as it approaches Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle area.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Pittsburgh_Hot_Metal_Bridge2.jpg/300px-Pittsburgh_Hot_Metal_Bridge2.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Hot_Metal_Bridge_2016_panorama.jpg/300px-Hot_Metal_Bridge_2016_panorama.jpg)
The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation was responsible for managing the decorative lighting project for the bridge, which was lit with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) and optical fiber technology on June 12, 2008.
The Hot Metal Bridge was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame in 2016.[3]
Popular culture
The Hot Metal Bridge is the namesake of the defunct Hot Metal Grille at the nearby SouthSide Works shopping center.
The bridge was in several scenes of the 2011 film Warrior starring Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte.
See also
- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
- List of crossings of the Monongahela River
- Pittsburgh bridges
- Great Allegheny Passage
- Pig iron
References
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-277-B, "Monongahela Connecting Railroad Company, Main Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at mile post 3.1, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 12 photos, 2 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. PA-277-C, "Monongahela Connecting Railroad Company, Hot Metal Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at mile post 3.1, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 13 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- Hot Metal Bridge at pghbridges.com
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Official reopening of the bridge after the conversion
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Article on conversion of bridge to pedestrian and bicycle use
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - High bids threaten the conversion project
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Groundbreaking on the new project
- v
- t
- e
- 30th Street Bridge
- 31st Street Bridge
- 33rd Street Railroad Bridge
- 40th Street Bridge
- Bloomfield Bridge
- Birmingham Bridge
- Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge
- David McCullough Bridge
- Fort Duquesne Bridge
- Fort Pitt Bridge
- Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge
- Glenwood Bridge
- Glenwood B&O Railroad Bridge
- Greenfield Bridge
- Highland Park Bridge
- Homestead Grays Bridge
- Hot Metal Bridge
- Liberty Bridge
- McKees Rocks Bridge
- Panhandle Bridge
- Panther Hollow Bridge
- Schenley Bridge
- Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge
- Smithfield Street Bridge
- South Tenth Street Bridge
- Swindell Bridge
- Three Sisters
- Veterans Bridge
- West End Bridge